1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical instruments, devices and methods of using the same and, more particularly, surgical instruments including surgical stapling devices for applying buttress attachments, buttress attachments and methods of using and applying the same.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In some surgical operations, surgical supports or buttresses, e.g., meshes, are employed by surgeons to bridge, repair and/or reinforce tissue defects within a patient, especially those occurring in the abdominal wall, chest wall, diaphragm and other musculo-aponeurotic areas of the body. Surgical supports are disclosed in, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,054,406, 3,124,136, 4,347,847, 4,655,221, 4,838,884 and 5,002,551. During such operations, surgeons employ conventional or known suturing or anchoring techniques to apply such supports to body tissue. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,452,245 and 5,203,864 describe methods for suturing or anchoring mesh supports to body tissue, especially during hernia repair operations.
Surgical instruments including surgical stapling devices are employed by surgeons to sequentially or simultaneously apply one or more rows of surgical fasteners, e.g., staples or two-part fasteners, to body tissue for the purpose of joining segments of body tissue together. Such devices generally consist of a pair of jaws or finger-like structures between which body tissue to be joined is placed. When the instrument is actuated, or “fired,” longitudinally moving firing bars contact staple drive members in one of the jaws, thereby pushing surgical staples through the body tissue and into an anvil in the opposite jaw which crimps the staples closed. If tissue is to be removed, a knife blade can be provided to cut between lines of staples. Examples of such instruments are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,354,628, 5,014,899 and 5,040,715, each of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Surgical stapling devices have found widespread application in surgical operations where body tissue must be joined or removed. When operating on thin tissue, such as thin emphysematous lung tissue, it is important to effectively seal the tissue which can be particularly prone to air leakage. Preventing or reducing air leakage can significantly decrease post operative recovery time. Thus, it is advantageous to provide surgical buttresses for use with surgical stapling devices which enhance sealing at the surgical site.
Placement of the surgical buttress in position on the surgical stapling device, prior to insertion of the surgical stapling device into the target surgical site (i.e., through a trocar, cannula, body opening or the like), is desirable in order to best ensure that the surgical buttress is properly positioned on the surgical stapling device.
Accordingly, a need exists for a surgical buttress which is operatively associatable with the surgical stapling device, prior to positioning of the surgical stapling device at the target surgical site, and which surgical buttress is maintained or remains in position relative to the surgical stapling device during positioning of the surgical stapling device, to the target surgical site, through a trocar, cannula, body orifice or the like.